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As unnatural and uncomfortable as the silence was for her, Nyxali practiced it well and asked to learn the signal language that Scratch and Tchash shared. It was a complex language of body language, eye movement, and just plain intuitive understanding. That was harder to learn, but as the land began flattening out and night time campfires disappeared; she could appreciate the importance of her study.

The plains were wide, open, and, frankly, scary to Nyxali. The sky seemed so huge. She felt so small under its great expanse. Especially at night, the stars were so many and so bright that Nyxali alternated between awe and fear. It did not help that shortly after reaching the plains in the middle of nowhere, they found a skeleton of an obvious throwback. It wasn't a relic; Tchash thought maybe just a few months. Scratch and Nyxali looked around as if the Cullers were lying in wait for them. They could do nothing for the poor soul except some silent prayers, because anything they did to him would be noticed and lead the Cullers to them. Tchash hurried them on.

They skirted the small towns that they spotted in the distance. Tchash kept leading them north and slightly west. After a couple of weeks of little sleep, Tchash finally pointed out their destination - a mountain range just becoming visible in the north. But, there was something else between them and their goal: a large, sprawling city. Scratch growled low and guttural when he saw it. He crouched and his fur was on end. Nyxali crouched next to him and gently petted his head and scratched his ears. She purred softly to calm him and looked to Tchash with her eyes wide in query. Tchash smiled at her quickly acquired proficiency with their signal language. Tchash moved around as if stretching and didn't look directly at them as he did so. His nose twitched and he cocked his head from time to time which might have looked as if he had a kink he was trying to work out, but Nyxali understood: he was trying to figure out if they were being watched, which meant she and Scratch should stay low.

He did some deep knee bends; Nyxali watched carefully for the messages. On the first set facing the city, he shook his nearly empty journey pouch; he needed to go to the city to get some supplies. He straightened and ran his hands down in his body before stretching them towards the city with fingers outstretched and shaking them; in the city he would go unnoticed since there were so many people. On the second set, he turned slightly towards the west where there was a river and trees and rolled his head between his crouched students and the direction he was facing; they were to follow the river and stay in the trees. He stood up and bent from the waist stretching away from the city towards the river; they were to keep as far from the city as possible. He paused, rustled in his journey pouch, and pulled out his canteen. He took a deep swig before returning it to the pouch. On his third set, he faced them, stretched his hands out before him towards them, and nodded towards Scratch. Before rising, he curled his body up in a ball and tapped the ground four times before unrolling. Then, he stood up and walked off. Nyxali blinked and considered the last set. She eyed Scratch. He was purring and nodding. Nyxali watched Tchash's quickly disappearing back. Scratch put his paw on her arm. He blinked at her slowly. She looked at Tchash again before returning the blink. Scratch had understood that last message even if she hadn't. It had seemed directed at Scratch, but....

Scratch distracted her with a pat on the ground and a swish of his tail under her nose. He was moving low to the ground towards the river, trees, and relative safety; she was supposed to follow. Nyxali gave one more look to Tchash and prayed she would see him again - alive and whole - before following Scratch's lead.